Project management is mainly about planning and managing change – whether that is implementing a new service or an appraisal system, re-merchandising part of the shop or ensuring customers follow a defined path around the store in line with social distancing. There are risks associated with any change, but careful communication and planning will help to deliver a desirable outcome.

What you do next year may be different from what you did this year, and that is likely to be very different from what you did five years ago. Making change happen can be seen as a series of projects – the tasks you want to achieve.

Projects come in all shapes and sizes, from the small to the large and highly complex. A definition might help: a project is the work that needs to be done to produce a unique, predefined outcome within a predetermined period of time and budget.

It is the one-of-a-kind nature that distinguishes a project from ongoing work. Getting everyone to spend an afternoon pitching in to tidy the dispensary is a project; keeping it tidy is normal work.